Wonderful Warwick Castle 🤩… dramatic architecture, hundreds of years of exciting history to absorb, plus plenty of entertainment on hand! 😀
Lazy artist, walker, gardener. Charity trustee including almshouses. Granny to two heartstoppers No DMs please unless I know you. Old age Middle Englander ☮️
399 followers 392 following 856 posts
view profile on Bluesky
Wonderful Warwick Castle 🤩… dramatic architecture, hundreds of years of exciting history to absorb, plus plenty of entertainment on hand! 😀
It is a wonderful structure. Did you pop to Kenilworth whilst in the area? To see the Lindsey Mendick sculptures.
I waited hours for this cloud to come near the lake #lightning strike reflection.
The UK is at a very dangerous and fragile moment, I think. The BBC has instigated #BBCVerify to check facts. All good. But IMO, something much more is needed. It’s time for the BBC to show audiences how powerful think tanks, whose funding is obscure, +certain media, are creating political agendas.
Thanks Laura. I wholeheartedly agree. I love a huge proportion of the BBC output except the news and its apparent bias toward Reform shaping the current narrative without challenge. Stopped listening to their news since Brexit and have recently deleted their news app I find it sooo bad.
The year is 2025. You're living in one of the most prosperous nations in the history of humanity. You can freely acquire any kind of bread without even leaving your house. Delivery people will bring it right to your door! But you're a conservative and sourdough exists, so you're blind with rage.
Why paint a marrow bed? (1927) Well, aside from an exercise in form and light, in later life Stanley Spencer wrote: 'When I feel a certain degree of strength in my feelings and passions has been reached, I want to transform some disliked thing into something I shall love.'
For painters not necessarily known for their paintings of plants, Messrs Spencer and Freud excelled. Great quote too!
I’m sure we will look forward to seeing what happens next…
Like yours my mum was very poorly at then end of her life in 2014 and I’ve still not cried. My dad died last year and I find myself welling up often and occasionally even sobbing. Grief is so very complicated and I’d say it’s fine not to cry: it’s just the way it is. Now go and make a drawing! X
Watery July sunlight over North Uist, Outer Hebrides. Ankle deep in wet moss. Acrylic glaze on Two Rivers paper 550x375mm #NorthUist #OuterHebrides #ArtYear #Landscapepainting #Landscapeart
Inspired by Windrush, Year 5 created these mixed media compositions using printing & drawing. Focusing on themes of migration & journeys we learned about the incredible work of artist Ade Adesina. 🤩 #PrimaryArt #Windrush @sophieleach.bsky.social @darrellwakelam.bsky.social @artteachjess.bsky.social
Brilliant. Such a talented bunch.
"Behind The Trees" - my oil painting
Enjoyed this very much - great crafts people mixed with modern techniques One heck of a budget www.channel4.com/programmes/t...
No prior experience is required as our specialist contractors will provide guidance and support. So, if you love old buildings and are happy to get your hands dirty, then we look forward to you joining us at Castlemartin on the 25th and 26th September. 3/6
Really lovely Helen.
Latest @theguardian.com cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Latest @theguardian.com cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My Prospect piece yesterday set out how a illiberal radical government with a firm majority and competent advisers could easily abuse the UK constitution - and that the UK more vulnerable to this than US. But. This sort of warning is not new. It has been over a hundred years in the making. >
Mona Caron, contemporary Swiss-born, San Francisco-based artist, known for her large scale murals featuring wild flowers highlighting environmental concerns #womensart #Fridayfeeling
Best castle in Warwickshire #gothic
A drawing for a piece to be submitted for an exhibition exploring the right to protest. Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi who was shot and killed by Israeli military forces during a protest in Israeli-occupied Palestine
I climbed onto a jam-packed tubeon the way to Heathrow on Monday. Singing, dancing, percussions, horns and pure joy. It took me a moment to realise it was the Notting Hill Carnival weekend. This beautiful lady was happy to pose. Cont in alt… #HumansofBlueSky #EastCoastKin #NottingHillCarnival
Yes. And it seems to depend on what diplomatic relations are like to be able to negotiate a return! And we do not have good relations with certain countries from where some have fled. But we must process claims more quickly!
Oh yes. Immediately.
I've submitted another complaint to BBC about BBC News department's political bias favouring a far-right agenda based on yesterday's unparalleled political coverage of the Reform press conference paired with a story about 1 incident of a migrant accused of assault. www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comp...
No words.
In London with half an hour to enjoy a coffee before seeing the Jenny Saville exh. Having been on a bus, walked and visited gender neutral lavs, I feel totally unmolested, safe and happy. And I’ve just read this which is really very interesting news.sky.com/story/asylum...
Natural Heritage Officer - Development Plans & Heritage with Shetland Islands Council based in Lerwick, full-time, permanent position c-js.uk/4oQOk2l
Wow Kit 😍
Why does the BBC feel obliged to put his agenda at the front of their coverage week after week - at the expense of other ideas about dealing with immigration? The irony is he would no doubt end the BBC licence fee with no replacement funding if he were to become PM. See 👇🏻4/
Sharing this from Instagram, as it appeared in my feed, and I've hurt myself laughing at this. From KellyCooksWhat on Instagram.
No brush, no pencil. Just a typewriter. Artist James, using a 1930s Smith Premier typewriter, typed out this painting. #art #printer #unique #typewriter #illustration
BBC News has become the most vile news platform. It pretends to be quality and impartial but focuses on isolated incidents in order to fuel hate. For instance, one refugee assaulting someone. When the data proves most assaults and sexual assaults are by British white men.
But what to do? I’ve removed the BBC app today. I am becoming more and more anxious about the rise of the right and their apparent encouragement by msm incl BBC. It’s sickening trumpification and no one calls it out. Mine is such a tiny voice.
Eve Miller : Southern Subtleties, n. d. Pastel, 12 x 9
I have had enough of this man headlining for the BBC. I have offloaded the app, sent it to the ‘back page’ and downloaded the free FT instead. Next a subscription to Private Eye will follow if I ever have any spare ££ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Well you’re super kind 👏 and off we go again.
That made me laugh. I made a ‘Hmmm’ on Sunday. It may yet be binned and certainly cannot be saved so may keep it as a Lesson Learned. Here it is.
Rushdi Abualouf BBC’s Gaza Correspondent: “Palestinian journalist Maryam Abu Daqa was killed by Israel along with four colleagues at Nasser Hospital.Hours earlier, she wrote on Facebook: “When you see the soil covering the most precious thing you have,only then will you realise how trivial life is”
WE HAVE TO CREATE. IT IS THE ONLY THING LOUDER THAN DESTRUCTION #artworks
Lovely drawing!
Hi friends! 🌼 Drawing a tiny daisy today — loving all the little details coming to life on paper! ✏️💛 #botanicalart #daisydrawing #sketchbookart #flowerdrawing #natureillustration
Palimpsest
And more bees. #draw #mentalhealth #ink #watercolor #charcoal #bees
Sigh of the day: more fly tipping hereabouts but in other news I have successfully used superglue twice today 🙌
From around 1900 onwards, the Belgian artist Firmin Baes worked almost exclusively in pastels on canvas, rather than paper; he used a similar technique to Degas, crushing pastel sticks and mixing the pigment with water and gum arabic to make a paint that he applied with a brush.
Evening coat, by designer Elsa Schiaparelli in collaboration with Jean Cocteau, 1937 #womensart
Lot 102 Ana Silva (Guatemala 1982-) Large Footed Vessel, From the Series "Tzukxul I" ("Sheep" in Q`eqchí) www.wilson55.com/auction/lot/...
Legitimate Concerns?
I have watched this video more times now than I’d like to admit, but it has made me laugh every single time. [sound most definitely up]
🌿✨ A new National Nature Reserve has just been launched in Shropshire, safeguarding more than 1,500 hectares of rare habitats. The Stiperstones Landscape Reserve will protect heathland, ancient woodland, bogs and grasslands along the England–Wales border.
A little gem in Leicestershire, NT Stoneywell Light and shade in abundance.
Mad score at Cov v QPR.
We look after some pretty unusual places. Like the rock houses at Kinver Edge on the Worcester/Staffordshire border.
Been drawdling at the magnificent Bradgate Park - such views!
Jewells
Want to work with two Green Peers? A rare chance!
My Victorian ink bottle posy kits are now in in my Etsy shop. They include: ✒️an antique ink bottle - you can choose your design 💐a tiny posy of dried flowers 🧠a booklet on the neuroscience of how this kit can improve mental health & how to create tiny posies 📔 extras www.etsy.com/uk/shop/silv...
Our collections are full of surprises. This manuscript is a medical herbal. But there a monster be… #FolkloreThursday #NaturalHistoryMuseum #Manuscripts #SeaMonsters #SpecialCollections #ZoologicalArt #Monsters #BlueSkyBooks Alt text: Reel of an early herbal with a drawing of a sea monster.
This whole thread is worth a read but this one… 👌
Perfection ✅
Ha! Don’t we know it?! www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Ha! I’m enjoying the rain tbh.
Worth watching the athletics on BBC2 now just to enjoy the torrential rain.
Terrific Dr Mand and fab composition. Well done on the alt text too! More please.
A lovely profile on a brilliantly talented artist and illustrator: @nicktankard.bsky.social www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/2538702...
I made some super granulating paint yesterday…it does amazing things… West Penwith, Cornwall, UK #landscapeart #landscape #drawing #sketch #art #cornishart #abstractlandscape #womenartists #landscapepainting #watercolour #gouache #mixedmedia #art #westpenwith #collage #monoprint #ArtYear
In the 1970s, famed sculptor Henry Moore moved to a new studio, which looked out on a field of sheep. He made ballpoint sketches of them in all aspects of their self-absorbed sheep-y life ~ his sketchbook, which he gave to his daughter, was later published thamesandhudson.com.au/product/henr...
Frank Brangwyn's picture from 1887, is a textbook example of the new spirit in the painting of this period. On a grassy bank, a young woman is sitting looking out to sea, and further down the hill in the centre of the work, a man in a white shirt is heading for the village.
High impact content??? What claptrap - I love it and as a low impact old person, this makes me rather sad.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Birmingham👇 and a spotlight on my favourite JWEvans on Albion Street. I’ll be there on 12th September helping with EH taster tours so drop in! Otherwise open on the 20th #birmingham #heritage #jewelleryquarter #museum #pristinedust
Been out surveying Anglesey dunes this week. Flora very stunted in the heat and drought, such as these tiny Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum), Common Restharrow (Ononis repens) and Field Gentian (Gentianella campestris) #wildflowerhour
🇫🇷 My Paris Sketchbook: a movable feast of light, streets, cafés & colour—plus the art shops that tempted me & the kit I carried along the way. 🎨🌿 www.digest.andymarshall.co/my-paris-ske... #art #paris #travel #amsketching #urbansketching
Just looked through this Andy, great sketches and ok, the haul from a visit to Sennelier wasn’t bad either!
'Chemisette Verte.' (1967) There is always an invisible presence Domenico Gnoli's paintings. It’s never the object itself but the person who inhabits the clothes that frames the narrative, rather like an accidentally taken photo from a passport booth.
Excellent.
Isn’t it just?! And how are you doing?
Love this. The simple shapes, the lightness of touch but we know exactly what they are. Funny birds
This is a beautiful garment. Let me show you what makes it special. 🧵
Kurt Vonnegut’s definition of what makes something “art” is one of my favorites I’ve seen - from a letter to his brother in 1995.
At a time when we are losing hand skills, I can’t figure out why the uptake for this course is so poor. Robbie is a world class class cutter, great teacher and lovely man and of course Cromarty is the best place in Scotland. Contact the Cromarty Arts Trust and book your place 👌👍
Proper signposts with distances on them.
Reality of sexual violence just the fiction that he cares about women & that sexual violence was invented by brown/ black men who can’t spell properly . These figures are also available to the BBC if they have any researchers left www.wgn.org.uk/get-informed...
So pleased with Berkswell station planters this year, great work by Berkswell Society volunteers and I suspect station staff water them occasionally 👏👏👏
Paul Nash belonged to the very diverse generation of British modern artists who went to the Slade and included Stanley Spencer, Ben Nicholson, and Dora Carrington. 'Wood on the Downs,' (c1929) features Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire; a gratifying picture of Englishness.
Diary date - Heritage Weekend at Temple Balsall 20th and 21st September
Love it there! Great staircases.
I want
That’s wonderful Phil. Good luck to him and his bride 💘
Looking good! Happy birthday Ron x 🎂
Plants die and dogs wriggle a lot. Drawing is tricky sometimes. Pen and ink, sketchbook.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled doomscrolling for this bowl of sunshine timeline cleanse. #DoomscrollingBreak
So very sorry Nick, take care of yourself.
pigeons gather in scores
'Golden Park Light' linoprint by contemporary printmaker Alexandra Buckle #ReframingWomenPrintmakers
Making sure my knit flatfish gets her daily dose of vitamin SEA 💙 #ShowMeYourKnits #GanseyFlatfish #knitsky 🧶🐟
